The Long Trip Home

Guest blogging at Instapundit, Austin Bay links to a stirring true tale from the opening days of World War II. It's the story of a PanAm Clipper flying boat which was outbound from San Francisco in the vicinity of New Caledonia enroute to Aukland, New Zealand, when they learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. You can access their story here.

The chief pilot carried sealed orders which, in the event of Japanese hostilities, directed them to keep going west around the globe until they reached the PanAm base in New York. Since PanAm didn't routinely fly this route, they had to make it up as they went along. Along the way they landed on both the Nile and Congo rivers.

History doesn't have to be dry and boring. This is not a short read but extremely well-written and gripping. I enjoyed it very much, perhaps you will too.